Phillies Notebook: Pitching out of the bullpen a possibility for rehabbing Halladay

NEW YORK — Mike Adams’ attempt to heal his shoulder with rest and exercise appears to be coming to a surgical conclusion. Jeremy Horst’s rehab also took a pessimistic turn that has scrapped hopes of a 2013 return. Mike Stutes’ shoulder has been slow to respond.

Those were the reports Friday afternoon from Phillies head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan on the team’s battered bullpen arms. Meanwhile, the Phillies have five healthy starting pitchers, all of whom are giving efforts of late that are between plenty respectable and outstanding.

Roy Halladay, meanwhile, was throwing from 120 feet in the Citi Field outfield. Charlie Manuel talked excitedly about how the veteran right-hander already seems to have his arm slot in a much higher and healthier angle.

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Halladay underwent shoulder surgery in May and has been working vigorously to make the September return originally thought to be possible a reality. Yet there are a few things to consider as he gets closer and closer to throwing off a mound and shifting his rehabilitation into another gear:

1) The Phillies are desperate for bullpen help.

2) The Phillies are not, at the moment, in need of rotation help.

3)The minor-league seasons end Labor Day weekend, taking away by far the best option for Halladay to extend his outings in rehab assignments to a starter’s workload.

4) Halladay on a limit of, say, 70 or 75 pitches would be tough to put on the mound for a mid-September start for a team in a pennant race. All that would do is force the beleaguered bullpen to do more work.

With that very realistic scenario on the plate of both Halladay and the organization, the question is posed: Do he and the Phillies envision the possibility that the two-time Cy Young winner could best serve the Phillies in the final weeks of 2013 as a relief pitcher?

As far as Halladay is concerned, no.

“I just think it’s beyond the moment of right now,” said Halladay, who expects to throw off a mound for the first time post-surgery next week. “I don’t know, honestly. It’s so far away. I would hope that, if I come back and say I’m going to pitch, I’m going to come back and pitch at my level. I’m not going to come back and pitch the way I was pitching.”

That, of course, isn’t the issue. Although Halladay is a voracious worker and by all accounts is ahead of schedule as he aims to return, it is rare that a pitcher returning from a shoulder surgery like his doesn’t hit a setback – soreness, scar tissue that tears, a dead-arm period. And if Halladay hits any bump in the road like that, it will be difficult for him to be extended enough to start games.

But work an inning or two of relief every few days? That is feasible.

“That’s going to be something that’s very thoroughly talked through and there will be tremendous communication on both sides,” Charlie Manuel said when asked about the possibility of Halladay working out of the bullpen. “I think he definitely would have to feel like he can do that.”

Halladay clearly would rather return in the role in which he thrived for a decade. However, other starting pitchers have decided to come off a surgery and serve in the role they are capable of serving at the time, most notably the Braves ‘ John Smoltz.

Halladay is a free agent after the season, though, which could make the decision whether he’d want to put the Phillies’ short-term World Series aspirations ahead of his future.

“The doctors have told Roy he can pitch two to four more years,” Manuel said. “I don’t think we would want to put that in jeopardy or Roy in jeopardy. I think we’d have to listen to doctors in a meeting … before we jump into something like that. We want to make sure we do the right thing.

“But I’m not going to rule it out. And I think if you ask Roy, he wouldn’t rule it out.”

Technically, Halladay didn’t rule it out. But it’s clear he is aiming for the best-case scenario, one where he is ready to work a full workload in the starting rotation by Labor Day.

“We’ll see about the time frame,” Halladay said. “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but I hope to be back before the minor-league season is over. I do. But like I said, it’s still day to day. It’s so hard to predict those things. That’s why I’ve been reluctant to talk about time frames. You never know. There are so many possibilities.”

“He knows himself better than anybody,” Manuel said. “I think we have to listen to him and see what he thinks. It’s not about letting him dictate (the decision), but I think he knows who he is.”

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In a long rundown of the Phillies’ medical situations, head trainer Scott Sheridan said Adams would see Dr. Neal ElAttrache in California to decide if surgery is needed to heal his shoulder problem. Horst (elbow) could require a PRP shot that would end his season, and Stutes received a cortisone injection for his biceps tendinitis.

Ryan Howard (knee surgery) will have the stitches removed from his incision and the first baseman already has shown improvement in his flexibility.

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The Phillies still have three catchers and four outfielders on the roster, but Manuel doesn’t seem worried. The reason: It seems general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. believes he can procure an outfielder within the next several days.

“Ruben will get in here Sunday, and I’m sure we’ll talk about that,” Manuel said. “We’ll probably make a decision on what we’re going to do in a couple of days.”

In the meantime, John Mayberry Jr. will handle the workload, with a few players ready to get their outfielder’s gloves if needed.

“We’ll put (Laynce) Nix or someone out there who has played there before,” Manuel said in the case Mayberry gets hurt or has to leave the game. “(John) McDonald can definitely play there. (Kevin) Frandsen can probably play on the corner. Nix has played center before. We’ve got (Darin) Ruf. We can cover it.

“We’ll see if we can get us an outfielder. At the same time, we still have to play games …There are some things we’re trying to do, I guess. I think (the front office) can answer those things better than I can.”